Chairperson, with regard to the question relating to volunteers in the Adult Basic Education and Training, Abet, programme, we don't have volunteers in our Abet programme as it stands now. We have no volunteers in public education learning centres, which are departmental institutions.
Provinces employ educators either part-time or full-time. So, there are no issues about volunteers there. We have volunteers in our mass literacy programme - I think the member wanted to relate to this. Currently, we are utilising about 35 000 volunteers who participate in a campaign for literacy education. This is a short-term programme. These people are formally unemployed, and we give them stipends from the campaign to cover expenses which they incur. We are currently in discussions with the sector education and training authorities, Setas, in an attempt to ensure that our volunteers are accredited for the knowledge we are giving them through the campaign through recognition of learning. We wish for them to use this experience as portable knowledge which they can use in other areas.
All of the volunteers have passed Grade 12. These are young people who have the capacity, orientation and interest in education. We are already offering them scholarships to get into the profession. This also helps us in terms of recruitment. Some of these kids go there on a voluntary basis and then fall in love with the profession. We are assisting them to become qualified teachers.
The long and short version of the answer is that we don't have volunteers. So, there is no issue or question around stipends or other things. We don't have volunteers in the Abet programme but in the literacy programme.